"Commander, Aircraft, Solomons" (ComAirSols) directed the combat operations of all land-based air forces in the Solomons during the major Allied offensive of 1943–44, Operation Cartwheel.[1] Discussing the initial command structure of AirSols, Marine Corps historians Henry I. Shaw and Douglas T. Kane, wrote:
Rear Admiral Charles P. Mason was the first officer to hold the title ComAirSols; he assumed command on 15 February 1943 at Guadalcanal.[2] Actually, Mason took over a going concern, as he relieved Brigadier General Francis P. Mulcahy, who had controlled all aircraft stationed at the island during the final phase of its defense. Mulcahy, who became Mason's chief of staff, was also Commanding General, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The fact that a general headed the staff of an admiral is perhaps the best indication of the multiservice nature of AirSols operations. Since Mason brought only a few officers with him to help run the new command with its enlarged scope of activity, he kept Mulcahy's veteran staff. Experience, not rank, seniority, or service, determined the assignments. Vice Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, as Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific (ComAirSoPac), was Admiral Mason's immediate superior.
On 15 June 1944, AirSols was replaced by AirNorSols (Air North Solomons), which would have 40 squadrons (including 23 USMC squadrons). That same day, responsibility for Allied units west of 159° East Longitude and south of the Equator passed from POA to the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). However, seven USAAF squadrons in AirNorSols were transferred, as part of the Thirteenth Air Force, to the U.S. Far East Air Forces (SWPA) and eight USN and RNZAF squadrons were moved to garrison duty in South Pacific.
Major General Hubert R. Harmon, USAF: March 15, 1944 - April 20, 1944
Brigadier General Field Harris, USMC: April 20, 1944 - May 31, 1944[7]
Brigadier General James T. Moore, USMC: May 31, 1944 - June 15, 1944[8]
(A full list of commanders can be seen at James A. Winnefeld, Joint Air Operations: Pursuit of Unity in Command and Control, 1942–1991, 34, drawing on Sherrod, 1952.)
McGee, William L. (2002). The Solomons Campaigns, 1942–1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville—Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII). BMC Publications. ISBN0-9701678-7-3.
Mersky, Peter B. (1993). "Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942–1944". Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved 20 October 2006. Account of U.S. Marine involvement in air war over Solomon Islands and Rabaul.
Shaw, Henry I.; Douglas T. Kane (1963). "Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul". History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Archived from the original on 20 November 2006. Retrieved 18 October 2006.